COPAA v. DeVos, 2018
Filing Date2018-07-12
This lawsuit filed on behalf of Council of Parents Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) seeks to ensure timely compliance with an important U.S. Department of Education regulation.
Active
Read MoreLegal Advocacy & Impact Litigation
We work strategically and collaboratively with co-counsel partners, community organizations, and named plaintiffs to bring impact litigation that represents broad classes of children and youth across multiple public systems.
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M.B. v. Howard
Filing Date2019-09-06
In November 2018, a group of young people in foster care in Kansas, represented by NCYL and its partners, filed a lawsuit challenging Kansas’s failure to protect the safety and well-being of children and youth in the custody of the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF).
Active
Read MoreFreeman v. County of Riverside
Filing Date2020-06-01
Prior to passing California Senate Bill 190 (SB 190), counties throughout the state charged fees to families for administrative costs associated with their children's involvement in the juvenile court system.
Active
Read MoreD.S. v. Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families
Filing Date2021-01-28
The state of Washington denies hundreds of children in foster care the most fundamental and basic of rights owed when a child is placed in government custody: a place to live and the support and services needed to return home.
Active
Read MoreAlicia B. v. Dannel Malloy
Filing Date2015-12-29
NCYL brought this case on behalf of two students to affirm the plaintiffs' constitutional right to a meaningful education and to prohibit the practice of offering independent study as an alternative educational opportunity.
Active
Read MoreAntioch Unified School District Settlement
Filing Date2015-03-25
This agreement addresses the District's failure to identify, evaluate and provide special education services and supports to African American students with disabilities, and the exclusion of African American students through excessive suspension and expulsion, and other forms of exclusionary discipline that unnecessarily deny students access to classroom instruction.
Inactive
Read MoreTonisha Smith v. Alameda County
Filing Date2021-08-01
Under California law, every youth in foster care is entitled to a safe place to live at all times. With partners Youth Law Center and Morgan Lewis LLP, National Center for Youth Law has filed a complaint against Alameda County and its Social Service Agency on behalf of a youth in extended foster care who experienced more than two weeks of homelessness because the agency failed to provide her with a place to live.
Active
Read MorePlanned Parenthood v. Promesa Behavioral Health
Filing Date2016-02-19
The California Constitutional right to privacy protects the fundamental right of California women to retain personal control over the integrity of their bodies and to decide whether and when to parent.
Inactive
Read MoreBrazwell v. Wagner
Filing Date2010-03-23
This case challenged California's policy of denying cash assistance to relative caregivers when the children they care for get in trouble with the law and are returned home on probation.
Inactive
Read MoreBrowse Resources
A Legal Advocacy Guide: Combatting Racial Discrimination and Censorship in K-12 Public Schools
This guide is meant to serve as a tool for understanding legal protections that can help students, families, and educators push back against racial discrimination and censorship in K-12 public schools.
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Education Civil Rights Alliance Responds to Executive Orders Targeting Discipline Reform & Disparate Impact
On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued two executive orders that will erode civil rights protections for students if implemented.
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Cash Benefits and Other Assistance: The Experiences of Expectant and Parenting Youth in California Foster Care
Expectant and parenting youth (EPY) with current or prior involvement in foster care experience multiple educational, health, and financial stressors. As EPY navigate the transition into adulthood and parenting, they often do so with reduced family support and greater systemic and financial challenges, making it harder for them to achieve what they want for themselves and their children. While support programs do exist, young parents have reported challenges accessing existing benefit programs.
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JusticeEd: Year Four Progress Update
At the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), we envision a future where each and every system-impacted young person is able to graduate from high school with the widest array of possibilities for their future.
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JusticeEd: Year One Progress Update
At the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), we envision a future where each and every system-impacted young person is able to graduate from high school with the widest array of possibilities for their future.
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Cash Benefits and Other Assistance: The Experiences of Expectant and Parenting Youth in California Foster Care
Expectant and parenting youth (EPY) with current or prior involvement in foster care experience multiple educational, health, and financial stressors.
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Rights of Children Potentially Subject to the Laken Riley Act
The Laken Riley Act (LRA), signed into law on January 29, 2025, amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by expanding mandatory immigration detention to include individuals who are arrested for, charged with, convicted of, or admit to committing specified crimes. This guide addresses questions that are likely to arise if the LRA is enforced against children under the age of 18.
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From school to court: New report details extensive harms tickets inflict on students
A new report that examines the experiences of young people who become ensnared in Colorado's municipal court system due to being ticketed at school and in their communities highlights several disturbing trends and calls on community leaders to implement needed reforms.
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